Major Foreign Policy Events of 2011
1. In 2011, Russia's foreign policy activity was focused on achieving results practically facilitating sustained internal development, economic diversification through promotion of promising and innovative projects in various fields and the deepening of cooperation with major world powers. As President Dmitry Medvedev noted in his annual Federal Assembly Address on December 22, Russian foreign policy has become more contemporary and working for the purposes of modernizing the country; it is determined by geopolitical developments and by the need to ensure the security of Russia and partner relations with other states in the interests of our citizens.
2. As before, the most important direction of Russian foreign policy was to develop multifaceted cooperation with our partners in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The integration processes in the CIS space, which marked its 20th anniversary, developed intensively and fruitfully. The CIS Council of Heads of Government, on October 18 in St. Petersburg, signed a Free Trade Area Agreement which is to spur economic and trade cooperation among the Commonwealth countries on the basis of uniform and transparent rules. The decisions of the Moscow CIS summit on 20 December gave powerful new impetus to reinvigorate the integration processes within the Commonwealth.
As part of the gradual shaping of the integration core of EurAsEC, the Customs Union made up of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan began to function in full swing on July 1. All three countries ratified the basic package of 17 agreements to govern the launching of their Single Economic Space (SES) as from January 1, 2012. Important events were the signing on November 18 in Moscow by the Presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan of an Eurasian Economic Commission Treaty and their adoption of a Declaration on Eurasian Economic Integration, proclaiming the creation by January 1, 2015 of a Eurasian Economic Union, which aims to determine the future of our countries and serve as a model of a strong supranational association based on universal principles of integration as an integral part of the common European home, and to play the role of an effective connecting link between the European space and the Asia Pacific region. The EurAsEC summit in Moscow on December 19 took decision to set up a Eurasian Economic Commission, this constituting an important step forward in the formation of the SES and subsequently the Eurasian Economic Union.
Major advances in promoting cooperation within the CSTO were the informal August meeting of leaders of member countries in Astana on strengthening its military capacity and streamlining the mechanisms for crisis response, and the CSTO's jubilee summit in Moscow on December 20, which adopted a Statement on the Twentieth Anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty and the Tenth Anniversary of the CSTO.
3. Russia's full-fledged accession to the World Trade Organization, approved by the WTO Ministerial Conference on December 16, opens a qualitatively new stage of our country's integration into the global multilateral trade and economic system and its key institutions and of realizing export capabilities while maintaining support for leading sectors of the national economy
4. Priority attention was devoted to the issue of maintaining global strategic stability.
The new Russian-American Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) entered into force on February 5. However, in matters of the deployment of US missile defense elements in Europe we were not able to reach mutually acceptable outcomes on legally binding assurances that the deployable MD assets in Europe are not directed against Russia's strategic potential.
On November 23, President Medvedev issued a statement with regard to the situation around NATO's missile defense system in Europe, describing its risks for strategic and regional stability and outlining the measures Russia will take should the US and NATO proceed unilaterally with building a missile defense capacity in Europe at the expense of international security.
5. A broad international debate around the modernization of the European security architecture continued to unfold, of which the Russian initiative to conclude a European Security Treaty (EST) remained an important element.
Our dialogue with NATO member countries focused mainly on the practical implementation of the goals declared at the Russia-NATO summit in Lisbon (November 20, 2010) of building a strategic modernized partnership on the principles of transparency, predictability and trust. Preliminary results of joint work in this direction were summed up on December 8, 2011 at the ministerial meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels.
We firmly defended Russia's approaches to the OSCE, offering reasonable, consistent with national interests, compromises in various areas of cooperation with partners, including at the 18th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council (Vilnius, December 6-7). The priorities of Russian diplomacy in the OSCE are the reform of the Organization (including the development of its statute), the elimination of functional and geographic imbalances of its activity, countering unilateral use of its executive bodies in the interests of individual groups of countries, and greater attention to the politico-military dimension of the OSCE.
6. At various international forums, we consistently and systematically promoted our positions on the issues of strengthening the international regime of nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation of WMD and their means of delivery, as well as countering modern asymmetric challenges to global security.
We assisted vigorously in the extensive work being carried out under the aegis of the IAEA to improve the international nuclear safety regime in light of the lessons of the accident at the Japanese nuclear power plant Fukushima-1 (March). Thanks to the joint efforts of member countries the 55th session of the IAEA General Conference (Vienna, September) adopted a Plan of Action for Nuclear Safety, which includes all the basic elements of the initiatives of the President of the Russian Federation to streamline the international legal framework in this area.
7. We consistently argued for the primacy of international law, democratization of international relations and the formation of a democratic model of world order. We based our position on the fact that the principles of respect for democracy and the rule of law must be asserted not only within countries but also at international level, and all actions in the international arena, without exception, should be built strictly in accordance with the principles of international law and the provisions of the UN Charter.
We actively used the rostrum of the UN, the potential of its Security Council, our participation in the 66th session of the UN General Assembly and other international and regional platforms to resist attempts at arbitrary interpretation of the norms of international law for the purposes of forceful outside intervention in internal conflicts.
8. Within the UN, BRICS, LAS, the African Union (AU) and other international and regional formats we made strenuous efforts for the peaceful resolution of the crisis situations that arose on the vast expanse of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) within the scope of international law by forging a broad national dialogue, without the use of violence and the imposition of solutions on the MENA states from the outside.
We consistently pursued a policy of consolidating the central role of the UN Security Council in dealing with the Libyan crisis. In contacts with NATO we insisted on the necessity of strict compliance with UNSCRs 1970 and 1973. We backed the adoption of a resolution on the establishment of a UN mission on the territory of Libya, and initiated the passage of UNSCR 2016 (October) canceling the no-fly zone over Libya.
We consistently condemned violence in Syria, from whatever quarter. We called for immediate peace talks involving all parties, without external interference contrary to the UN Charter. We actively backed the LAS initiative for an inter-Syrian settlement, with Arab observers monitoring the process. On December 15 we circulated in the UN Security Council a Russian draft resolution containing a signal to the authorities and opposition of the country to engage in dialogue based on the proposals of the LAS.
We acted on the assumption that the period of fundamental transformations in the region should not be used as a pretext for delaying the settlement of existing conflicts. We undertook, in close collaboration with partners, to unblock the situation in the Middle East peace process and restart negotiations. The Quartet, at its ministerial meeting on September 23 in New York, confirmed the international legal platform of talks on the Palestinian-Israeli track and endorsed a specific timeline for progress towards resolution. The inter-Palestinian consultations in the Moscow region on May 21-22, organized by Russia, helped to consolidate inter-Palestinian reconciliation on the PLO platform and the Arab Peace Initiative. We supported the Palestinian bid for UN membership, and UNESCO's decision to grant Palestine member status at the 36th session of its General Conference (Paris, November).
9. The international position of the BRICS member states grew stronger, as attested to by the third summit of the association (Sanya, China, April) and the leaders' meeting of the five states on the margins of the G20 summit (Cannes, November). A solid basis for long-term practical cooperation among the BRICS countries on a broad range of issues was laid, common approaches, with regard to the situation in North Africa and the Middle East in particular, were declared and their willingness to assist the creation of a more stable financial and economic situation in the eurozone and the world as a whole was reaffirmed.
10. The Group of Eight remained an important mechanism for the coordination of positions on key global policy issues, including finding solutions to problems of sustainable development. Our proposals in the field of increasing nuclear power safety were endorsed at the summit in Deauville. We supported the launch of the Deauville Partnership with the people of the MENA region, under whose auspices a number of events were held during the G8 foreign ministers' meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly 66th session (September), and within the framework of the Forum for the Future in Kuwait (November).
11. We supported the process of strengthening the multilateral format of the Group of Twenty as an effective new element of the modern system of global governance. At the summit in Cannes, the leaders of the G20 expressed their determination to work together to counter the negative trends in the global economy, approved the comprehensive plan of anti-crisis measures to overcome the financial and debt crisis in the eurozone, adopted at the EU summit (Brussels, October), and recorded in their final declaration an intent to provide the IMF with additional resources to support the European economy.
12. High intensity Russian-American dialogue went on. The two countries' presidents maintained regular contact, and held two full-length meetings in Deauville, on the margins of the G8 summit (May), and in Honolulu, on the margins of the APEC summit (November). The Russian-American Presidential Commission worked actively; long-term joint projects continued to be implemented through its twenty working groups. The Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation (the 1-2-3 Agreement) entered into force, an Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of International Adoption was signed and an exchange of notes on the conclusion of the Agreement on Visa Facilitation took place. Largely thanks to US assistance the multilateral negotiations on Russia's accession to the WTO were successfully completed.
13. In light of the priorities of technological modernization of the Russian economy, we sought to advance and flesh out our strategic partnership with the European Union. The Russia-EU summits in Nizhny Novgorod (June) and Brussels (December) helped reinvigorate the many-sided cooperation under the Partnership for Modernization initiative. The relevant declarations were signed with 23 EU states. The trade turnover with the EU countries was about US$400 billion. Work continued on the preparation of a new framework agreement.
We saw mutually beneficial energy partnerships develop with EU countries. The first line of Nord Stream, a trans-European gas pipeline, was commissioned on November 8 at Lubmin, Germany, in the presence of the President of Russia, the German Chancellor, the Prime Ministers of France and the Netherlands. Work continued on the South Stream project.
The summit in Brussels ended with the adoption of a road map for introducing a visa-free regime with the European Union on the basis of an agreed set of common steps and practical actions to move towards a common visa-free space.
In December a Russian-Polish Agreement on Local Border Traffic was signed to provide mutual visa-free travel for residents of the Kaliningrad oblast and the neighboring regions of Poland comparable in size.
14. A continuing priority was the development of multi-field cooperation with countries and integration formats of the Asia-Pacific Region (APR) in order to make effective use of its financial, investment, scientific and technological capacity for the modernization of the Russian economy and the socioeconomic uplift of Siberia and the Russian Far East.
The APEC summit (Honolulu, November) supported the priorities of the Russian Chairmanship of the Forum in 2012, focused on maintaining continuity in the activities of this association and giving onward momentum to it, particularly in the areas of trade and investment liberalization and the deepening of regional economic integration and cooperation for the purposes of innovative development, transport and logistics improvement, and food security.
Evidence of the consolidation of Russia's position in the region was our participation in the 6th East Asia Summit (EAS) (Bali, November), which is the pivotal element in the system of multilateral institutions in the AP region, where the Russian approach to forming a regional security architecture evoked an interested reaction.
The joint statement adopted at the meeting of foreign ministers of Russia and ASEAN (Bali, July) on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Russia-ASEAN Dialogue Partnership, outlined the steps to improve practical cooperation, with emphasis on the innovation sector.
15. The relations of partnership and strategic interaction with China grew stronger. Three meetings of the Heads of State took place, including the state visit of the President of the PRC to Russia, plus the 16th regular meeting between the Heads of Government, a visit of the leader of the Chinese parliament, four meetings between the ministers of foreign affairs, and numerous contacts between various ministries and departments. A number of joint events were held to mark the 10th anniversary of the fundamental Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. China retained its position as a leading foreign trade partner of Russia (over US$70 billion per year).
16. Onward momentum characterized our relations of privileged strategic partnership with India in all areas of interaction, including the commercial and economic sphere. Bilateral military-technical cooperation retained its priority significance. Ties grew in science, technology and innovation, and culture.
The development of Russian-Japanese relations was largely furthered by the prompt response of Russia to the natural and man-made disaster (March). Meeting in November, the two countries' leaders agreed priority areas of bilateral cooperation, with emphasis on the innovative component.
The strategic partnership with Vietnam was intensified; relations with Laos reached the level of strategic partnership and mutually beneficial ties with other countries of the region developed. Diplomatic relations were established with Tuvalu on October 22.
17. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) positioned itself as an increasingly weighty factor of peace, security and stability in Asia. Its 10th jubilee summit in Astana on June 14-15 adopted the Astana Declaration Marking the 10th Anniversary of the SCO, which set forth the tasks for the future. It approved an Antidrug Strategy for 2011-2016 and an Implementation Action Plan, as well as a memorandum of the obligations of a state applying for membership of the SCO. An intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Public Health and a Memorandum of Understanding between the SCO Secretariat and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime were signed. Interaction on the economic track was given additional boost by the agreements reached at the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in St. Petersburg on November 7.
18. We promoted mutually beneficial relations of multifaceted pragmatic partnership with states of the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. September 11 saw the launching of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran's first, built with the assistance of our experts. During the visits to Russia by the presidents of Afghanistan (January) and Pakistan (May), major trade and economic cooperation agreements were signed.
On November 1, Abu Dhabi (UAE) hosted the first ministerial meeting of the Strategic Dialogue between Russia and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), encompassing the entire range of bilateral interaction and putting cooperation on a firm systemic footing.
19. Against the backdrop of increasing attention in the world to Arctic issues, the signing at the ministerial session of the Arctic Council in Nuuk, Greenland, on May 12 of the first legally binding pan-Arctic document, the Agreement on Cooperation in Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic, initiated and co-chaired by Russia, had considerable significance.
The entry into force on July 7 of the Russian-Norwegian Treaty on Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean ended a longstanding bilateral moratorium on oil and gas exploration on the continental shelf, and opened up new prospects for deepening cooperation with Norway in the energy sector and other areas.
20. The focus of collective international efforts remained on achieving a just and comprehensive political and diplomatic settlement of local and internal conflicts.
During the Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia we consistently advocated for legal formalization of the regime of non-use of force between Georgia, on the one hand, and South Ossetia and Abkhazia, on the other. We constructively participated in the work of the incident prevention and response mechanisms as a tool for stabilizing the situation in the area of the borders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia with Georgia. On April 25-26, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov made working visits to the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia. President of Abkhazia Alexander Ankvab paid an official visit to Moscow on October 6.
In the context of the promotion of peacebuilding activities in the post-Soviet space, the meetings of Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia with the participation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev were held in Sochi (March) and Kazan (June), during which the parties succeeded in reaching mutual understanding on a number of key issues in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process.
Following the second round of the 5+2 meeting in Moscow (September), we undertook vigorous efforts and managed to unblock, after a five-year hiatus, the official work of the Permanent Conference on political issues within the negotiation process towards a Transnistrian settlement. Formal negotiations resumed at the first meeting of the participants of the Conference on the eve of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius.
The situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear program (INP) was discussed together with the partners in appropriate international structures, as well as in the tripartite meeting between the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran on the sidelines of the Astana SCO Summit. In August, we handed over to the Iranian side our proposals for a stage-by-stage restoration of confidence in the INP.
We sought to revive six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.
Bilaterally, in cooperation with the SCO and CSTO partners and through the Russia-NATO Council, we assisted Afghanistan in building a peaceful, independent, democratic and economically prosperous state capable of independently combating terrorism, narcotics and organized crime. The International High-Level Conference on Afghanistan (Bonn, December 5), attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, constituted an important step towards this end. Of positive significance was the regional conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul (November), in which a representative Russian delegation took part.
Afghan problems were examined at the third summit of the Four (Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan) on September 2 in Dushanbe.
21. Within the scope of the realization of the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation, we attached special importance to an objective analysis of the ongoing dynamic changes in the world and to systemic comprehension and prediction of the evolution of global tendencies, and the place and role of Russia in contemporary international relations. We consistently promoted cooperation with foreign policy oriented NGOs. On September 7-8, a meeting of the Global Policy Forum was held in Yaroslavl on the theme "The Modern State in an Era of Social Diversity." In line with the instructions of the Russian President, the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund and the Russian Council on International Affairs are successfully operating.
22. On November 8, the President of the Russian Federation signed a new Decree "On the Coordinating Role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in the Conduct of the Unified Foreign Policy Line of the Russian Federation," designed to help strengthen foreign policy coordination and ensure the smooth and efficient operation of all parts of the state machinery in the sphere of international activities, including a reliable and effective defense of Russian national interests in relations with foreign states and international organizations in a rapidly changing international environment.
December 28, 2011